A Night to Remember

Last Thursday evening was for me very special. The highpoint of my crime writing life, no less. For Thursday was when, during a wonderful occasion as the Dorchester Hotel, I became President of the Detection Club. Since 1930, there have only been seven previous Presidents, plus a co-president, Lord Gorell, who acted as a public speaker during the early years of Agatha Christie's nineteen year reign as President. My immediate predecessor was Simon Brett, who has served with distinction for the past fourteen years.

The first President, from 1930, was G.K. Chesterton - Sir Arthur Conan  Doyle was approached, but too infirm in the months before his death to accept. Chesterton was followed by E.C. Bentley, author of the book that really inaugurated the Golden Age of detective fiction, Trent's Last Case. Next came Dorothy L. Sayers, and when she died, Agatha Christie took over. After her death, Julian Symons became President; he was followed by another leading crime novelist and critic H.R.F.Keating, and then Harry handed over to Simon. As I said at the close of the installation ceremony, those are big shoes to fill. And there's a big presidential robe to fill, too! It was clearly designed, as Simon noted, to accommodate the well-upholstered Chesterton

A very happy feature of the evening was that we had the largest turn-out for a Detection Club event for many years. Those attending included Harry's widow Sheila, Jessica Mann (who was the Club Secretary for several years), the eminent journalist Katherine Whitehorn, and a host of distinguished novelists including Andrew Taylor and N.J. Cooper. The guest speaker was Mark Lawson, himself a novelist of note, as well as a leading cultural critic and commentator. He spoke movingly and well about a trio of recently departed crime writers, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Henning Mankell, and we also had a chat about The Golden Age of Murder, which he reviewed very generously some months ago.

The Detection Club is a private, London-based dining club, no more, no less. But it has the distinction of being the first major social network for crime writers, and it played a significant part in the genre's development and its cultural heritage. And next year will see the publication of the first Detection Club novel for decades. This is The Sinking Admiral, a book which we thoroughly enjoyed putting together. I'm very glad to be part of the Club, and naturally I'm thrilled that the members have honoured me by asking me to take over from Simon. It's not something I ever anticipated, but I'm very, very glad that it's happened.

St Hilda's

The 21st annual Crime and Mystery Week-end at St Hilda's College in Oxford was as enjoyable as ever. The theme, topically, was detective fiction and warfare, and this inspired a wide variety of interesting and informative papers from speakers ranging from Val McDermid, and Jake Kerridge of the Daily Telegraph, to Anne Perry and the conference guest of honour, Peter Robinson. My own contribution focused on the 'Golden Age and the Shadows of War', and I was truly gratified by response to news about the forthcoming publication of The Golden Age of Murder. Champagne was kindly provided by a good friend, and consumed with great appreciation, especially on my part!

The after dinner speakers on Friday and Saturday were, respectively, the legendary Colin Dexter (who mentioned, among many other things, his enthusiasm for John Dickson Carr),, and Keith Miles, better known to some readers as Edward Marston, author of the Railway Detective series. At the top table on Friday evening it was rather wonderful to be in the company of the likes of Colin, Anne, Andrew Taylor, Imogen Robertson, and Alan Bradley, a highly successful author whom I've never met before. Alan is Canadian, but after a spell in Malta, he now lives at Peel on the Isle of Man, an entrancing resort in which I once set a short story, 'Sunset City'.

A week-end like this gives you the chance to make new friends, and also to get to know some people better whom you may have met only fleetingly in the past. The setting gives this event a special character and atmosphere, and I encourage anyone who is interested in in-depth discussion of the genre, coupled with a great deal of conviviality, to consider attending in the future. Great credit is due to the tireless organisers, Eileen Roberts and Kate Charles. The talks themselves are chaired by N.J. Cooper (also know as Natasha Cooper and Daphne Wright), and I can only say that I've attended many different kinds of events in various sectors, but rarely encountered any chair as accomplished. It's a challenging role, because a great deal of concentration is required to do it well, but she makes it all look effortless, and her unfailing generosity makes the task of the speakers so much easier. And that's invaluable, because the audience is very knowledgeable, and all the speakers are naturally anxious to make sure that their talks live up to the standards expected.

I was delighted to share the platform with Ruth Dudley Edwards, who read and commented most helpfully on an early draft of The Golden Age of Murder, and her talk about Northern Ireland and terrorism was spell-binding. On the Sunday morning, Ruth and I went punting with Andrew Taylor (whose brand new book I'm longing to read after hearing him speak about it). Now, I've not been in a punt since I was a student a long, long time ago, but thanks to Andrew's expert steering with the punt pole we managed to avoid the calamity of capsizing that would definitely have ensued had I been left to my own devices. A fun memory of a great week-end.

Guilty Parties

I'm pleased to announce the publication this month by Severn House of the latest anthology of the Crime Writers' Association, Guilty Parties. I've been editing the CWA anthology since the mid-Nineties, and it's always a joy to receive so many original stories. The only downside is that not all of the stories I enjoy can be included, for reasons of space, and that was especially the case this year, when I was flooded with submissions that were very varied and entertaining.

The book contains an intro from me, a short foreword by Alison Joseph, chair of the CWA, and author bios, but the meat, of course, is in the stories themselves. Because several entries were very short, I did manage to find space for more stories than usual - 24 in all. And they are all brand new. My own entry, "A Glimpse of Hell", was inspired by the wonderful time I had last year on the small island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. Definitely one of the bonuses from my travels in recent years.

There are some very distinguished names on the contributor list. They include Peter Lovesey, doyen of classic detection, and also his son Phil, who is himself a splendid writer and past winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger. Laura Wilson, Aline Templeton and N.J. Cooper are there, and so too John Harvey -  creator of Charlie Resnick- Christopher Fowler, and Paul Johnston. There are also writers from overseas, including Ragnar Jonasson.

Among the other contributors are Chrissie Poulson (whose thoughtful blog is always worth reading), Frances Brody, Kate Rhodes and Chris Simms. Different readers will have different preferences among the stories, and regular readers of CWA anthologies will note that a number of the contributors, including some relative newcomers to the genre, have never before featured in the anthology. In choosing stories, my criteria include variety, which I do think is an important aspect of a book like this. As far as I'm concerned, it's both a pleasure and a privilege to have had the chance to put Guilty Parties together.

St Hilda's

I've mentioned the St Hilda's Crime and Mystery Week-end a number of times in this blog. It's one of the most enjoyable crime fiction get-togethers imaginable, and 2013 sees it celebrate its 20th anniversary. The event takes place over a week-end at St Hilda's College,which has a lovely setting on the banks of the river in Oxford. Punting is just one of the side attractions!

This year, the week-end is scheduled for 16-18 August. Although this coincides with the holiday season, and I've been unable to make it a few times for that reason, I do encourage crime fans who might be free to come along, even if they've never been to this particular event before. It really is fun, and - especially if the weather is kind - it's a very good time of year to visit Oxford.

Each year, the week-end has a theme, and papers are presented on that theme. This time, it's "From Here to Eterrnity: the present and future of crime fiction." Plenty of scope there! I'm honoured to have been invited to be one of the speakers - and especially honoured because it's otherwise a pretty starry gathering - fellow speakers include P.D. James, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid, Andrew Taylor and Frances Fyfield. The chaiing is done by N.J. Cooper, and as anyone who has seen Natasha in action will agree, she is quite brilliant at it.

Here's a photo of American author Marcia Talley and other guests at the Friday welcome drinks party back at the 2011 week-end. It gives just an idea of the pleasant atmosphere. The joint masterminds behind the week-end are Kate Charles and Eileen Roberts. To receive a booking form, just email Eileen at  eileen.roberts@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk . If you like crime fiction, and the marvellous authors I've mentioned (and there will be others) you will, I am sure, find this not only enjoyable but memorable.

Panels

Crime festivals like Harrogate succeed or fail to a large extent through the quality of their panels and main events. But of course, quality is not entirely dependent on the fame of the panellists (and thank goodness for that!) Much depends on how the different people involved gell together.

I did feel that our 'legal eagles' panel was one where the different personalities clicked together. A good moderator like Peter McCormick helps. Another example was a panel called 'What Lies Beneath', on psychological crime fiction. The moderator was N.J. Cooper, a fine writer who is also supremely accomplished at putting people at their ease and creating a feelgood factor.

A different situation occurred when the moderator of a conversation between the American thriller writers Linwood Barclay and Lisa Gardner clearly found the task of public speaking a bit of a challenge. A tricky situation that anyone can sympathise with - it took me years to feel comfortable with speaking in public, so my heart went out to the person involved - and one that was happily redeemed by the evident good chemistry between the two authors. I've never read a Linwood Barclay book, but his wit and genial manner made me interested in his work.

Which leads me to another point. You can like a person and not necessarily like their books. But it's true, I think, that if one comes across a previously unfamiliar author at a convention and finds them personally appealing, one is more tempted to read their books. It may not be logical, but I think it happens a lot.